1942:Go Down, Moses, an episodic novel by William
Faulkner, was published under the mistaken title Go Down, Moses,
and Other Stories by Random House. Faulkners original title
was restored to subsequent editions. (May 11)

1990: Filmmaker and puppeteer Jim
Henson, renowned as the creator of the popular Muppets characters,
died of pneumonia in New York City. (May 16)

NEWS about MISSISSIPPI WRITERS

William Faulkner program on C-SPAN to re-air May 10,
also available on Internet

May
10, 2002

OXFORD, Miss.  William
Faulkner once wrote, The past is never dead. Its not even
past.

That adage is proven true once again,
at least with regards to a television program on Faulkner that was originally
telecast live on May 5, 2002, from Rowan Oak, his home in Oxford from
1930 until his death in 1962.

Faulkners life and work were the
focus of a live two-hour broadcast for C-SPANs original series American
Writers II: The Twentieth Century, which explores the countrys
history through selected writers and examines what their work means to
Americans today. The broadcast originated from inside the main house,
which remains closed to the public because of renovations.

The program is scheduled to re-air on
C-SPAN tonight at 8 p.m. EDT. But even if you miss its second showing
on the public affairs network, you can still view the program over the
web via the series website, www.americanwriters.org,
which archives video from each of the live broadcasts.

Its doubtful that they could
have a series on American writers and not include Faulkner. C-SPANs
visit is very significant and very right, said William D. Griffith,
curator of Rowan Oak, which is owned by the University
of Mississippi.

Viewer questions fueled discussion by
Dr. Don Kartiganer, Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies at the University
of Mississippi, and Thadious M. Davis, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor
of English at Vanderbilt University
in Tennessee. Much of the discussion centered on Faulkners life
and his first major work, The Sound and the Fury, but the discussion
touched on other topics and works by Faulkner as well.

Kartiganer has written widely on Faulkner
and is director of the annual Faulkner
and Yoknapatawpha Conference. Among Davis publications is The
Game of Property: Race, Gender, and Law in Faulkners Go Down,
Moses.

Do you have a news item about a Mississippi writer? Please send your
information to mwp@olemiss.edu.

Gardening is now the favorite leisure
pastime in America. Homeowners are realizing the health benefits derived
from gardening and the increase in their home’s property value. Book retailers
are well aware that the trend in gardening books is to regional titles
that provide credible information on the plants that perform well in specific
regions.

Month-by-Month Gardening in Mississippi
is written by the highly popular gardening expert Felder Rushing. Contains
monthly advice on what to do and when to do it in the garden. The book
contains 12 plant categories ranging from annuals to vines.

Hallelujah! After a 10-year absence, Hannah
(Airships; High Lonesome) is back with a vengeance with a Southern
gothic novel full of every kind of excess: violence, sex, religiosity,
creepiness and humor. Here we have Tennessee
Williams, Flannery O’Connor, Harry Crews, Peter Dexter and Clyde Edgerton
all squished together, baked in hush-puppy batter, dipped in honey and
sprinkled with Jim Beam.

Set in a lake community in the vicinity
of Vicksburg, Miss., the story revolves around a fellow named Man Mortimer,
a thief, pimp and murderer and those are his good qualities who physically
resembles the late country singer Conway Twitty. On his trail are Byron
Egan, a somewhat reformed biker-turned-preacher and prophet, and Max Raymond,
a former doctor who plays saxophone in a bar band and has an attractive
Cuban wife who sings, sometimes for the band, sometimes nude in her back
yard. Meanwhile, the young town sheriff, distrusted since he hails from
the North, manages to shock even the most degenerate denizens of the area
with his affair with a luscious 72-year-old widow.

The plot is kaleidoscopic, with flashes
and slashes of wonder, humor and the macabre expertly mixed. Hannah tosses
off linguistic gems on almost every page: “... sometimes he felt he was
a whole torn country, afire in all quadrants.” Describing a car, “It smelled
like very lonely oil men.”

Reading today’s fiction is too often like
eating stale bread. With Hannah (finalist for the American Book Award
and the National Book Award), just imagine your most mouthwatering meal,
take a double helping and you’ve come close to the pleasure of reading
this book. —Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

AUTHOR EVENTS: Book Signings, Readings, and Appearances

May 13: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Writer Barry Gifford will read and sign
copies of his newest book, American Falls: The Collected Stories.
Visit www.squarebooks.com for
details.

May 16: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Pamela Petro will read and discuss her
new book, Sitting Up With the Dead: A Storied Journey through the American
South. Visit www.squarebooks.com
for details.

May 17: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Australian novelist Tim Winton will read
and sign copies of his novel Dirt Music. Visit www.squarebooks.com
for details.

May 18-19: Lake Tiak-OKhata, Louisville, Mississippi

The Mississippi Poetry Society, which
celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, will hold its Spring Festival
at Lake Tiak-O’Khata, near Louisville, on May 18 and 19. Featured speaker
will be Carolyn Elkins, an assistant professor of English at Delta State
University since 1989. She has presented poetry and writing workshops
at the local, state, and national levels. She has given more than 50 poetry
readings in the last several years, is a published poet and short story
writer. She is a member of the Mississippi Poetry Society as well as several
other writing and poetry groups. Her poems have been published in such
periodicals as Asheville Poetry Review, New Delta Review, Earth News,
and Tapestry.

Jeanne Kelly, current Poet of the Year,
will also be on hand to sign her new collection, published by MPS, From
Sunrise to Sunset. Awards will be given for winning poetry in the
annual contest.

For more information on the event, contact
Brenda Finnegan, MPS president, at writeawa@bellsouth.net or Dr. Emory
D. Jones at ejones@necc.cc.ms.us.

May 23: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

M.A. Harper will read from her second
novel, The Worst Day of My Life, So Far. Visit www.squarebooks.com
for details.

May 24: Lemuria Books, Jackson, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Claire T. Feild, author of Mississippi
Delta Women in Prism, will be signing from her book of narrative poems.
Visit www.lemuriabooks.com
for details.